Wednesday, May 25, 2016

When Your Sister is an Over-Achiever

Olivia asked me this morning, “Does Lyssie have another concert tonight?”

I replied, “No, we have to go to Gram’s, though.”

“Yay!” she sighed, leaning into me for a hug.

We’ve had to go to the school in the evenings quite a bit in the last couple of weeks and Olivia is over watching her sister receive awards, or play in the band or sing in the choir. She’s done with sitting still while we all clap for her sister.

Honestly, I don’t blame her. When you’re nine, there is nothing worse than having to sit still for an hour and listen to bad music. Heck, sitting still for an hour listening to good music would be too much to ask of most nine year olds.

Thankfully, I don’t think Olivia views Alyssa as a bar-setter. Liv isn’t watching her sister accept awards and sitting back thinking, “Well, damn, now I have to work harder so I can get those awards too.”

Olivia isn’t about competition. She’s okay with letting Alyssa be the best flute/piccolo player in our house. Olivia is the best at spinning in place. She doesn’t mind that Alyssa brings home the best grades, Olivia is the best at spinning a tale about Mush Mush and Katherine, her imaginary friends who used to be conjoined twins but who were separated years ago and now live separate lives while doing exactly the same thing at the exact same time all the time.

Yeah, in the long run, Olivia doesn’t view her sister as an over-achiever. Mostly the fact that Alyssa is so active at school and excels is more an annoyance to Olivia because it means she has to go back to the school in the evenings and that’s never fun.

Really, Olivia sees her sister as that girl she can pester and annoy until she chases her around the house. And that’s always the best thing EVER.

No comments: